November 16, 2004

 

 

Philippine Hog Farmers Call for Lower Cost of Feeds

 

Hog raisers in the Philippines are not making money due to the high cost of production, especially with the increasing feed prices, transportation and other sundry expenses.

 

Dr. Rodolfo Custodio, Hog Raisers Association of the Philippines (HRAP) vice president and president of the Hog Raisers Association of Pangasinan, has urged the government for support so that the industry will not meet its premature downfall.

 

According to Custodio, the current price of pork in the market at P140 (US$2.48) per kilo is already good for the retailers. If the price rose to P150, it is also reasonable because of the coming Christmas season.

 

But he said the increase in the cost of pork, if any, is necessary, taking into account the spiraling price of feeds as well as transportation that have significant impacts on hog raisers, meat dealers and all those involved in the industry.

 

The hike will help the hog raisers to at least recover part of their huge investments, even as he denied the wrong perception that they are now making a lot of money.

 

"On the contrary, we are not," Custodio said. "In this period of economic crisis, what we are doing is a tough-balancing act that allows us to barely survive," he stressed.

 

He pointed out that at least 77 percent of the hog production in the country comes from the backyard. But many of these were forced to stop operations because of high production cost.

 

In the case of hog farms, they had to depopulate or reduce their animals in order to stay in business. Otherwise they had to face the option of closing their farms.

 

Calling on the government to help reduce the price of feeds, Custodio said it is the high cost of feeds that forced many backyard raisers to give up, which in turn resulted in a pork shortage starting from January this year.

 

He argued there is also a need to limit, if not stop, the importation of carabeef directly competing with the local meat industry and the hog raising industry.

 

Unlike local pork that can stand up to price competition, the imported meat products cannot reduce their prices because of high tariffs and import duties.